Business this week

America's Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Deutsche Bank and one of its subsidiaries for allegedly hiding the poor quality of some of the mortgages it submitted to be covered by a federal mortgage-insurance scheme. The government claims it has paid $386m in insurance claims on 3,100 mortgages because of the German bank's actions, but is seeking damages of more than $1 billion in its suit.

Dancing on the ceiling

Timothy Geithner, America's treasury secretary, informed Congress that he was implementing a series of “extraordinary measures”, such as suspending bond sales that fund local infrastructure projects, because an agreement on raising the federal debt ceiling seems unlikely before May 16th, when the limit will be reached. Mr Geithner said the Treasury's measures would allow the government to keep borrowing until August 2nd unless there is a deal.

In one encouraging sign of compromise over raising the debt ceiling, Republicans acknowledged that a deal with the White House on their controversial budget ideas for Medicare and other policies would not be reached, but offered to keep talking.

It emerged that Mexico's central bank bought 93.3 tonnes of gold worth $4.3 billion during February and March, one of the largest official purchases of the precious metal in recent years. The central banks of big developing economies have been increasingly turning to bullion to diversify their assets away from currencies.

Chrysler reported its first profitable quarter since 2006. It made net income of $116m in the first three months of the year. The Detroit carmaker emerged from bankruptcy two years ago in a partnership agreement with Fiat. The Italian company recently said it was raising its stake in Chrysler to 46%, with the aim of holding a majority of shares by the end of the year.

Murdoch at the wheel?

In a joint statement News Corporation and EXOR, the investment company of Fiat's founding Agnelli family, announced that they were hoping to set up a consortium with “a view to formulating a long-term plan” for the development of Formula One, the premier international motor-racing championship. Fiat is the controlling shareholder in Ferrari, which races in the tournament. Formula One is owned by CVC Capital Partners, a private-equity firm, although the sport is still run by Bernie Ecclestone, who turned it into a global hit.

Intel claimed a breakthrough in transistor technology by announcing that it was ready to use its 3D Tri-Gate chip, first unveiled in 2002, in high-volume manufacturing. The company said that its 3D chip would usher in “the next era of Moore's law”, meaning that microchips would keep growing rapidly more powerful.

Warren Buffett admitted that he had made “a big mistake” in his handling of the events leading to the resignation of David Sokol, who had been considered a potential successor to Mr Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway. In remarks to shareholders, Mr Buffett also said that Mr Sokol's purchase of shares in a company shortly before he recommended Berkshire buy it was “inexcusable and inexplicable”. Mr Buffett came in for some rare criticism when the scandal broke in March.

Glencore, a mining and commodities company based in Switzerland, set a share-price range of £4.80-5.80 ($7.90-9.60) for its stockmarket flotation in London. This was lower than expected, though with investors clamouring for a slice of the initial public offering, the share price is expected to climb once trading commences. Ivan Glasenberg, Glencore's boss, stands to reap almost $10 billion.

Teva, an Israeli generic-drugs-maker, agreed to buy Cephalon, an American company specialising in branded pharmaceuticals, in a friendly deal valued at $6.8 billion. Teva's offer for Cephalon was considerably higher than that put forward last month in a hostile bid from Valeant, a Canadian rival.

Renren, China's biggest social-networking site, sometimes called the Chinese Facebook, raised $743m in its IPO in New York, the latest in a string of share offerings by Chinese technology companies in America. Renren's share price soared on the first day of trading.

Depreciating Valued Discs

DVD sales in America fell by 20% over the past year, according to the Digital Entertainment Group, an industry body. Rentals at DVD stores declined even further, by 36%. The data underline the challenges faced by Hollywood from the loss of what used to be a steady earner. Although sales through online DVD subscriptions and at supermarket kiosks have risen, they generate smaller revenues for the studios.